Eric Bledsoe is wondering where his running mates in the backcourt were on Friday night at Target Center. (Photo credit: Jim Mone, AP Photo)

NBA action returned to the Target Center Friday night as the Timberwolves hosted the Phoenix Suns, the first game for both teams since the All-Star break. Phoenix shook up its roster at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, picking up Danny Granger, John Salmons, Brandon Knight, and Marcus Thornton. None of those players were available for Phoenix Friday night. Despite all of those moves, the Timberwolves made just as much noise with one trade at the deadline, acquiring “The Kid” for one last run. Kevin Garnett will make his debut for the Wolves this coming Wednesday night against the Wizards.

Minnesota got off to a quick start, specifically Kevin Martin who scored 8 of the team’s first 10 points. After two back to back buckets by Andrew Wiggins, the Wolves led 14-9 and led to the game’s first timeout. The Wolves wound up building a 9 point lead before the Suns started to chip away. The Morris twins largely led that effort and after the 1st Quarter, the Wolves held a 26-24 lead.

Unfortunately for Minnesota, with about three and a half minutes left in the opening frame, Anthony Bennett was rolled over by two Suns players and had to head to the locker room.

The second quarter was really a thing of beauty for the Wolves and one to forget for the Suns. Phoenix missed shots, free throws, turned the ball over carelessly and allowed the Wolves build a double digit lead. Minnesota outscored the Suns 26-18 in the quarter and took a 52-42 lead into halftime.

Here are a few additional halftime notes/stats:

Phoenix shot 36% (16-44) in the first half, while Minnesota shot 42% (19-45).

The main reason the Wolves only shot 42% was Pekovic’s 1-7 and Rubio’s 2-6 from the field. Ouch.

Kevin Martin and Andrew Wiggins led the Wolves with a combined 24 points, with both shooting 5-8 from the field in the first half.

The Suns came storming out (see what I did there?) in the third quarter to tie the game with a 15-5 run within the first six minutes of the quarter. Things may have been a little more negative had this not happened …

Seriously, let’s just pretend it is 2004 for the next few months. Deal? Deal.

Despite giving up 35 points in the quarter, the Wolves took an 80-77 lead into the final 12 minutes as Zach LaVine drove to the basket for a layup and the foul with a second left on the clock. Unfortunately, LaVine missed the free throw thereby proving that he doesn’t want Wolves fans to only say nice things about him.

The fourth quarter was phenomenal from a fan perspective. The teams combined for 63 points and went back and forth, trading blows throughout. After multiple lead changes, the Wolves were in a position to close out the game after a Wiggins layup gave the Pups a 110-107 lead with 17 seconds left in the game. However, the Wolves missed three of their final four free throws giving the Suns a last second heave to pull off a miracle. Without a timeout to use the Suns had to launch a shot but decided to throw a pass and hope the clock malfunctioned. It didn’t and the shot the Suns did put up was after time expired (it missed anyway).

The final score of a highly entertaining game at Target Center: Minnesota 111, Phoenix 109. The Wolves are now off until Monday’s matchup in Houston against Kevin McHale and the Rockets. What year is it again?

Game Notes:

Markieff Morris led the Suns with 31 points, followed by an 11-10-6 (points-rebounds-blocks) performance from Alex Len.

The Timberwolves missed 11 free throws on the evening (27-38) … some things never change.

While led by Kevin Martin’s 28 points, Wiggins continues to come up with the big plays when the Wolves need them.

While Rubio had a terrible night shooting (2-10), he finished with 10 points, 14 assists, and 8 rebounds. He deserves at least one vote for 5th place in NBA MVP balloting given how much he means to this club.

Will Thad Young be in a Timberwolves uniform much longer? How much does he care to be? (Brace Hemmelgarn, USA Today Sports)

The Minnesota Timberwolves returned to action on Friday night after breaking their 15 game losing streak this past Tuesday in Indianapolis against the Pacers. The story of the night was of course Mo Williams’ 52 point effort. Could the Pups ride the ‘wave of momentum’ into Friday’s action in Phoenix? The Suns opened up the night with a 23-18 record, which would slot them into the 8 seed in the Western Conference if the NBA Playoffs started today. With the Wolves giving up a league worst 108ppg and the Suns scoring 107ppg (4th in the NBA), you would expect a run and gun type of game. Here is how the action went down this evening … as the teams celebrated Halloween a little late, with both teams in short-sleeved jerseys, the Pups in black and the Suns in orange.

The Wolves opened up with a starting lineup of Mo Williams, Andrew Wiggins, Chase Budinger, Thad Young, and Gorgui Dieng. (News of course has broken that the Wolves are open to dealing Thad before the deadline, which makes all the sense in the world given that he can opt out of his contract. Quite frankly, he hasn’t panned out and he isn’t the answer for the Wolves at PF for the next five seasons.) The Suns opened up Friday’s game with the following starting five: Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, PJ Tucker, Markieff Morris, and Alex Len.

Both teams got off to a hot start, with the Wolves taking a 13-12 lead into the first timeout with about 7.:43 left in the opening quarter. Minnesota opened up 6-6 from the field for their 13 points and each member of the starting five had a basket. That’s how you open the game on the offensive end of the floor! Dragic and Len each had six points heading into the timeout for Phoenix. After the timeout Dragic continued to pick apart the Wolves, scoring the Suns seven of the next nine points, leading to a 21-17 advantage for the Suns and forcing Flip Saunders to call a timeout.

At the end of the first quarter, the Suns held a 32-27 advantage. The teams played at the expected, fast pace and neither team seemed interested in taking a charge or knocking someone down in the paint.

The second quarter reminded me of the legendary 1990’s video game NBA Jam. It felt like every Wolves’ bucket was a three pointer or dunk/layup in the paint.

Christian Laettner and Chuck Person – dominating NBA Jam for over two decades

The Wolves were able to cut the Suns lead to three points, 59-56, at the half. Wiggins, Dieng, and Williams were all in double figures in the scoring department. Meanwhile, the only player that got on the floor for the Suns and not score in the first half was PJ Tucker.

In the third quarter I got my first look at Miroslav Radjujica and it wasn’t too pretty. In five minutes he was 0-1 from the field with a turnover and two personal fouls. His missed FG was a “below-the-rim” layup attempt and all I could do was shake my head.

The remainder of the Wolves’ roster seemed to follow suit in the 3rd quarter, as the team seemed to hit a bit of a wall. The Suns built a double digit lead, while the Wolves’ shooting percentages dropped and they started turning the ball over more frequently. At the end of the third quarter the Suns held an 86-75 advantage.

The Wolves weren’t able to do much in the 4th in terms of going on an extended run and cutting into the Suns lead. Wiggins left the game in the 4th quarter and didn’t return. The Wolves announced that he had a sickness. Keep your eyes on that news as the Wolves play again Saturday night in Denver.

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